How Things Were

I can’t just jump in and tell you where we are at now without first telling you how we got here. My husband and I have lived on our current homestead together for eleven years. Does that make anyone else feel old? Just me? At the time, the property was an empty 3/4 acre lot with side to side and front to back scotch broom. For those who don’t know what scotch broom is, it’s an invasive plant that blooms bright yellow and wreaks havoc on anyone with a throat. Or a respiratory system. It sucks. It is everywhere here on the prairie.

For the first five years we really didn’t do much to the property. I was juggling work and school and Rory was building his business. It also kind of felt like “his place” and not my own. I did all my gardening at my parents house down the road, so I was getting my gardening fix and had no strong desire to take on all the scotch broom.

The Switch

After we were married in 2012, we started to think more seriously about what we wanted to do with the property. The following year we decided that I would start staying home and turn our empty lot into a little homestead in anticipation of starting a family. We were both raised on farms and agreed that we wanted a similar lifestyle for our future children. We started by building a perimeter fence and cross fencing, creating a large garden space at the end of the property, a pasture in the middle and house/yard/play area section at the far end.

A family member built us our beautiful barn wood coop and we welcomed six barred rock chicks that would become our first laying flock. Around the same time we also acquired a batch of Cornish cross meat birds. Did we know how to process our own chickens? No. But where there’s a will there’s a way. We signed up for our local university’s cattleman’s winter school and took classes like ‘chicken rotational forage systems’, ‘how to find the perfect homestead’ and a hands on chicken processing class. Later that summer we took the plunge and processed those meat birds.

We put in a garden, planted fruit trees and we welcomed our first child in 2014. Since then, we’ve had several more flocks of layers and a plump of ducks. Yes, a plump, that’s what they’re called. We have dealt with hot summers, snowy spells in winter and have encountered predators of the earth and sky. We’ve welcomed two more children to the homestead, all born right here in the comfort only home can provide.

Our garden in located on the south side of our property. I’ve added to it over the years, but currently it is home to an apple tree, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and rhubarb. An herb garden contains things like mints, cilantro, oregano, parsley, thyme, lavender, chives, lemon balm and basil. I grow carrots, radishes, lettuces, kale-oh the kale!, cabbages, onions, garlic, potatoes and squash. And grass. Lots of grass. I’m experimenting with corn, tomatoes and peppers this year, but things aren’t looking so good. The rabbits ate all my sunflowers, cucumbers and most of the squash this year. Hey, I never said I was perfect! I fail just as much as I succeed.

Since I’m still in my first decade of serious gardening, I consider this ratio about average. The one thing I don’t do-give up. If something dies, I plant it again. If it gets eaten, I plant it again. And again. Each time I fail is a learning opportunity. What did I do wrong? What can I do better next time? I can’t grow as a gardener if I don’t let there be a next time. Growing food for my family has made me vulnerable to self criticism, because lets be real, I fail a lot. Turn that around and I can say that I have a lot of opportunities for learning and growth!

And now…

I’ve learned to bake bread, make yogurt, build fences, process chickens, cook from scratch and grow our fruits and vegetables. Sometimes I fail at these things, but homesteading is about resiliency. You have to dust yourself off, wipe the tears and try again.

I suppose that’s what I like so much about homesteading. Well, modern homesteading. You don’t have to be instantly good at something to be successful, you just can’t give up. The success is in the doing, not necessarily the doing-without-error.

Back in the pioneering days, however, screw up and you die. Not so pleasant.

Modern homesteading please. Flushing toilets and all.

Each year the garden grows more productive and our goals evolve and refine.

Our current goal is to expand our self sufficiency skills and grow as much food as what is realistically possible with three children four and under at our side. I want to gain more experience this year in home preservation including canning and dehydrating. All this learning is building up to something big. Can you guess what that is?

One day life will take us to a larger homestead and we will be bringing the experience and skills learned from our life on the prairie.